Shaving and hair-cutting apparatus



Sept. 10, 1935. R. HEIMERS smvme AND HAIR CUTTING APPARATUS Filed June 25, 1934 Rum Hum" mouwm ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 10, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application June 25, 1e34, Serial No. 732,335

i Mexico June 27,- 1933 Y 3 Claims.

The invention relates to handor power-operated shaving and hair-cutting apparatus in which the severing of the hairs in shaving or hair-cut- I ting is effected by a rotary circular blade or cutter operated at high speed, and has for its main object to provide an apparatus which in shaving will remove the hair without danger of cutting the skin and which, by changing or displacing the guard used for shaving, permits the hair to be cut at different easily adjustable lengths.

Another object is to provide a shaving and hair-cutting apparatus which also comprises means incorporated in the same apparatus for honing or sharpening the rotary cutter without removing it from the apparatus, using the rotation of said cutter for efie'cting the honing or sharpening operation.

Briefly described, my shaving and hair-cutting apparatus makes use of a circular blade or cutter speed, whereby the microscopically small projections or teeth existing even in the best honed cutting edges produce the effect of a circular saw surface of the skin smooth and at such a distance and such an angle from the revolving blade that all danger of cutting the skin is eliminated, while permitting the blade to contact with the skin when the guards are firmly pressed against it, producing thereby a close shave. During the hair-cutting operation, other guards interchangeable with the shaving guards, or the same guards in a different respective position to the blade, let the hair enter through slottedportions and permit the hair to be cut at any desired length determined by the distance of the blade from said guards.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 is ,a longitudinal cross section through a hand-operated apparatus having shaving guards and a sharpening device.

Figure 2 is asectional view of the head of the apparatus with displaceable shaving guards.

Figure 3 is a view, partly in cross-section, of the head of an apparatus provided with haircutting guards. Figure 4 is'a sectional view of a combined shaving and hair-cutting guard. Figure 5 is a top view of the guards shown in 66 Figure 4.

having a sharpened periphery rotated at high.

Figure 6 is a plan view of a circular cutter or blade.

Figure 7 is another plan view of a circular cutter or blade having an undulating periphery.

Figure 8 is a plan view of a blade having an 5 eccentric cutting edge, with a portion of a guard having straight parallel rills or teeth.

The apparatus shown in Figure 1 comprises a mechanism for rotating the cutting blade by hand-operated means, but'it is expressly under- 10 stood that the rotation of the blade may also be effected by other means, such as an electric motor placed within the housing or handle of the apparatus, a flexible shaft operated by outside means,

a spring mechanism or any other power-produc- 15 ing device, and I do not wish to limit myself to the particular construction illustrated in Figure 1.

Referring to this figure, the casing i of the apparatus, acting also as a handle, is of a substantlally tubular shape, constructed in the form 20 of a tubular shell or cylinder narrowing at its upper extremity to a collar or flange 2 of smaller diameter, and having at its lower extremity an I outwardly bulging lateral portion 3 for housing the sharpening device. Within this casing 25 I and parallel with its axis is placed a hollow axle or shaft 4 to which is attached a heavy cylindrical metal member 5 acting as a flywheel. To the lower inner extremity of the hollow axle .4 is secured a small conical gear wheel 6 which 30 engages a large conical gear wheel 1. On the axle of thiswheel I is placed a small gear wheel 8 engaging a large gear wheel 9, the axle of which carries another small gear wheel I0 engaged by a toothed segment ii attached to a handle I! 35 pivoted at the upper part of the casing i. A spring l3 surrounding the pivot i4 tends to push the handle I2 outwardly, into the position shown in Figure 1. As the handle I2 is pressed against the casing I, the teethv of the'segment ll op- 0 erate the wheel l0 which, by means of a ratchet wheel i5 engaging a ratchet i6, carries with it the gear wheel 9 and this in turn operates the other wheels 8, I and 6 producing a rapid rotation of the shaft 4, which rotation is main- 45 tained' during a relatively long time by the heavy ,flywheel 5. As the handle l2 returns to its outstanding position, the ratchet wheel I! slides over the ratchet IS, without stopping thereby the rotation of the other partsof the mechanism.

To the upper extremitypf the hollow shaft 4 is secured a circular blade or cutter I! by means of a. washer it placed below and a nut is placed end in a bearingor support 2|, so that the hollow shaft rotates around said rod. To the top of said rod is secured a circular cap 22 having a convex upper surface and a concave or recessed lower surface so as to provide a space for the nut I9.

Within the collar 2 of the casing l slides a tubular member 23 having at its upper end an outwardly extending dished guard 24 of a diameter greater than the diameter of the circular blade H. The tube 23 may be adjustably held by a screw 25 in a slot provided in the collar 2, and its inner surface is provided with rings or projections 26 forming bearings for the hollow shaft 4. 1

A second lower guard 21 having slightly upturned edges is placed between the first lower guard 24 and the blade I1, and is of such a diameter that its edge may cover'the periphery of said blade. This guard 21' is secured to a tubular member 28 frictionally held around the hollow shaft 4 so that it turns with this shaft and with the blade... The lower edge of this tubular member 28 is provided with a flange, and set screws 29 pass through the outer tubular member 23 above said flange.

The blade I! rotating horizontally in a fixed plane, the lower guards 24 and 21 may be adjusted with respect to said blade in such a manner that its edge remains below a straight line rumiing from the edge of the cap 22 to the edges of the lower guards 24 and 21, and any possibility of cutting the skin is therefore eliminated. The rotating edge of the blade I! will only contact with the skin when the guards are firmly pressed against it, so thata fold of the skin is raised and enters between the cap 22 and the lower guards. The edge of the inner guard 21, rotating at the same speed as the blade, further prevents the latter from cutting into the skin. By holding the blade at a very acute angle and almost parallel with the skin, the cap '22 may even be dispensed with, but this cap acts as a thin bearing surface which prevents the blade from having its rotation retarded or stopped by its contact with the skin. The inner guard may also be omitted, in which case the blade is also preferably held at a'very acute angle and almost parallel with the skin, whereby the cap 22 may be made very thin, at least towards its periphery,

Means have been provided for incorporating into the shaving and hair-cutting apparatus a device for sharpening or honing the circular blade, without removing it. These means comprise an. arm 30 pivoted with one end outside and about the middle of the casing I. The opposite end of this arm carries two shorter arms 3| projecting at right angles, and between these two arms are heldtwo balls 32 by means of spiral springs 33 and adjusting screws 34. When not in use, these balls with their supportmg arms are located within the bulge 3 of the casing I, into-which they enter through a slot in said bulge, and are held-in this position by a spring 35 located beneath the pivot of the arm 30. When 'the blade I! is to be sharpened, the cap 22 is pulled out for a certain distance, as shown in Figure 2, said pulling out being made possible into the point of contact between the two balls 10 32, such pressure being supplied by the spring 35, its cutting edge will be conveniently honed or sharpened according to the material from which the balls 32 are made. This material may be glass or an abrasive material, the cutting 15,

edge being only straightened by glass balls, but really honed or sharpened with balls of abrasive material. I wish it to be understood that instead of balls there may also be used abraslve disks, cylinders or other honing or sharpening devices 20 of suitable construction. The removal of the cap and the lower guard also enables the blade to be easily cleaned or replaced, the cap 22 being completely extracted in the latter case.

Figure 5 shows amodified construction for 25 sharpeningthe circular blade, consisting in recessing superposed parts 36 of the cap and of the lower guard so as to leave exposed a small part of the periphery of the blade to be engaged by the honing or sharpening means 32. This ar- 30 rangement permits the guards 22 and 24 to remain in their place while sharpening, the rotat- 1 ing inner guard 21 being omitted in this case.

Figure 3 shows the apparatus provided with a guard for hair-cutting. The tubular member 23 35 carries in this case a disk-shaped plate 31 having along its periphery a plurality of upwardly extending preferably slanting teeth 38 for catching between them the hairs to be cut, while the cap 22 may be of the same shape as described with 40 relation to the corresponding element of Figures 1 and 2. The circular blade I! cuts the hairs entering between the teeth 38 and being held thereby, while the length at which the hairs are to be cut may be adjusted by sliding the tubular 45 member 23 more or less out of the collar 2 so as to vary the distance between the blade I! and the'inner surfaces of the cap 22 and the lower guard 21. The same apparatus may be used for shaving, by keeping the blade I1 the proper dis- 50 tance below the teeth 38 and the cap 22.

Figure 4 illustrates the head of another combined shaving and hair-cutting apparatus. The tubular member 23 carries a plate 39 having along its rim, on opposite sides, a number of upwardly 55 extending teeth 40. The cap 22 is also provided with an equal number of parallel teeth 4|, the extremities of which enter into recesses of the lower teeth 40, forming thereby a cage-like structure with continuous vertical slots on opposing 60 sides, within which cage the blade I! rotates.

The height of the blade or its distance from the upper and lower walls of the cage. may be adjusted by sliding the tubular member 23 up and down in the collar 2, if the apparatus is to be used for cutting the hair. For shaving, the blade n is made to rotate in close contact with the cap 22, and the slotted portions of said cap are made thin enough to produce a close shave, as the out- 70 side of said slotted portions is pressed against the skin, without any danger of cutting it.

In all of the embodiments of the apparatus described, the rotary blade I 1 may either be perfect .ly circular, as shown in Figure 6,- or its edge may 75 be undulated as appears in Figure 7. The blade may either be of equal thickness throughout, or be slightly thicker in the center. The blade may also have an excentric shape in part of its periphery, as shown in Figure 8, especially adapted to be used for hair-cutting, as the hairs will enter more deeply into the toothed guard 31-38 or 39-40 when encountering the smaller radius of the blade, and will then be cut by a shearing motion, without having time to escape, when the larger radius of the blade is brought to bear against them, which efiect must be substituted, on using a circular blade, by a more rapid motion or pull of the apparatus along the skin. The same Figure 8 also shows a lower guard 42 with transversal parallel teeth or rills and a staight outward edge to be brought into contact with the skin, which form of guard may be used with any of the formerly described apparatus.

What I claim is:

1. A shaving and hair-cutting apparatus, com-' prising a tubular handle, a shaft passing through said handle, means for rotating said shaft, a circular blade-having a peripheral cutting edge secured to said shaft outside of said handle, an upper stationary cap of a diameter smaller than the diameter of said blade, a lower stationary and adjustable guard of a diameter greater than the diameter of said blade, an inner guard of a diameterlarger than the diameter of said blade 'but smaller than the diameter of said lower guard located between said lower guard and said blade and rotating with said blade, a sharpening device attached to said handle and adapted to be swung -1 into contact with said blade, and means for separating said cap and said inner and lower guards from the blade for letting said sharpening device contact with the edge of said blade.

2. A shaving and hair-cutting apparatus, comprising a handleof substantially tubular form, a hollow shaft located in said handle, means for rotating said shaft, a circular blade having a peripheral cutting edge secured to said shaft, a cap secured to a stationary shaft passing through said rotating hollow shaft, a slidably adjustable 10 lower guard, asharpening device comprising rotatable sharpening surfaces pivoted to said handle, normally held within said handle but adapted to be swung into contact with said blade, and recesses provided in both said cap and 15 said lower guard for permitting said sharpening surfaces to contact with the edge of said blade 3. A shaving and hair-cutting apparatus, comprising a tubular handle, a shaft rotating in said handle, a circular blade having a peripheral cut- 20 ting edge secured to said shaft. a cap having parallel teeth disposed on opposite sides, a lower guard having angular teeth protruding upwardly substantially at right angles and contacting with the teeth of said cap, forming thereby continu- 25 ous substantially perpendicular slots around part 'of the periphery of said blade, means for adjust- 

